F.A.C. File No

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communication

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THE TRAINING DIVISION* BUREAU OF NAVAL PERSONNEL

NAVPERS 16101 (Revised)

THE TRAINING DIVISION

US. BUREAU OF NAVAL PERSONNEL

NAVPERS 16101 (Revised)

I-ISRAR/

ATtWY end STAFF QOLLi-ui.

2958 RESTIICIED

FOREWORD

In this booklet an effort has been made to bring together under a single cover the most important duties of a communication officer, and to point out what prac¬ tical and administrative proficiency a good communi¬ cation officer should possess. The problems which have confused communication officers in the past—and which still confuse many!—are discussed, together with the tricks learned only by bitter experience.

Security does not permit a detailed discussion of coding operation, but numerous references to current publications are listed and these should be read at the first opportunity.

It is not intended that this booklet be used in place of Communication Instructions^ or any other official publication; it is to be used in conjunction with them.

u

INDEX

in

Or Pasre

The Communication Officer_ 1

Duties_ 1

Division officer—Leadership_ 2

Knowledge of your job_ 3

Supplies for your ship_ 3

Publications_ 4

Determining allowance of publications_ 7

Quarterly reports_ 10

Status of publications_ 11

Destruction reports_ 11

Change of command_ 12

Corrections to publications_ 12

Recognition signals_ 15

Other sources of information_ 16

Codes and ciphers_^_ 17

Security_ 18

Movement reports_ 18

The coding board_ 18

Abbreviations_ 20

Paraphrasing_ 21

Drafting of messages_ 21

When the message “Won’t Break!”_ 23

Internal organization_ 23

Censorship_ 25

Watch standing as 0. O. D_ 25

The Radio Officer_ 27

Frequencies—Calibration . of transmitters and

receivers_ 28

Training_ 29

Radio procedure_ *29

Underwater sound- 31

Radio direction finding- 32

Contact and amplifying reports- 33

Radio theory_ 33

Careless radio operation_ 33

Distress calls on 500 kc- 34

Advancement in rating- 34

Files_ 35

ui

Page

The Signal OflBcer_ 37

Signal organization_ 37

Flag hoist_ 37

Flashing light_ 39

Semaphore_ 40

Visual procedure_ 40

Visual file_ 41

Drills_ 41

The Ship’s Secretary_ 43

Correspondence and Filing_ 43

Mail Log_ 44

Navy Mail Clerks_ 44

Appendix A_ 47

Simplified naval radio W/T procedure_ 47

Plaindress messages_ 48

(1) The call_ 48

(2) Preamble_ 50

(3) Address_ 53

(4) Message instructions_ 54

(5) Text_ 54

(6) The message ending_ 55

Direct communication_ 57

Codress messages_ 57

Procedure messages_ 58

(1) INT_ 59

(2) IMI_ 59

(3) “J”_ 60

(4) QJM- 60

(5) QMO_ 61

Acknowledgments_ 62

Appendix B_ 64

Radio wave propagation and frequency charac¬

teristics_ 64

Appendix C_ 73

Notes on advancement in rating_ 73

Appendix D_ 75

Communication check-off list_ 75

IV

Communication OFFICER

DUTIES On board capital ships, aircraft carriers, cruisers,

and on other vessels where conditions warrant, the commanding officer appoints an officer of the line to act

as communication officer. On the large ships (light cruisers and larger), the communication officer has three assistants: the radio officer, the signal officer, and the ship’s secretary. On ships the size of destroyers and smaller, including most auxiliaries, the communication

officer himself is the radio and signal officer, and ship’s secretary, and must know the duties of each.

The communication officer is responsible for the oper¬

ation and maintenance of the radio, sound, and visual signalling apparatus; for the compartments and deck spaces occupied by such apparatus; for the operation and maintenance of all internal communications (within the ship) employed in connection with external

communications; for the procurement, custody, distri¬ bution, and correction of classified publications; for the preparation of all communication records and reports; for the organization, operation and supervision of all ship’s communications to insure reliable, secure and rapid handling of messages.

A good communication officer must develop a genuine interest in his work and in his men. He should under¬ stand visual communications, have a knowledge of tactics, and be able to read flag hoists, flashing light, and semaphore. He must understand radio communica-

1

tions, methods of delivering fleet traffic, radio pro¬

cedure, technical radio, and ought to be able to read the

International Morse Code. He must have a thorough

knowledge of cryptography as that subject pertains to

current Navy systems. He must be proficient in the

duties of the ship’s secretary, understand chain-of-com-

mand, official correspondence, filing, the handling of

mail and mail logs, and other duties as set forth in

U. S. Navy Regulations, 1920, and Communication

Instructions, 1944.

The communication officer must be familiar with any

operation plans, particularly the portions pertaining

to communications. From the OPLAN he must or¬

ganize, write, and distribute the ship’s communication

plan.

DIVISION OFFICER-LEADERSHIP If you are communication officer, you will also be the

division officer of the “C” division, which is composed

of yeomen, quartermasters, signalmen, radiomen, and

certain other technicians. Not only must you know

naval communications, but you must Tctww your men^

and know how to get the most out of them in line of

duty. You must be a leader. You can he the greatest

technical marvel the Navy has ever seen., hut you will

fail if you can/not get along with your fellow men.

Learn the names of the men in your division, where

their homes are and where their interests lie. Help

them study for advancement in rating and show a gen¬

uine interest in them and in their work. If they know

you are interested in them, and that you know their joh

as well as your own., they will work harder and longer

without growling. And when you have your men work

late, work late with them—don’t be seen going ashore

with your golf clubs!

Remember, your job requires not only a complete

knowledge of naval communications, but, as division

officer, a knowledge of human nature. You must be a

2

leader and know how to get your men to work for you,

not by virtue of the stripes on your sleeve, but because

of the man inside.

KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR JOB

Reliable, secure, and rapid communications are a

prime requisite in modern warfare. On your shoulders

as communication officer rests a heavy responsibility.

Your knowledge of communications, your initiative and

ability, some day may mean the difference between vic¬

tory and defeat for your ship, the difference between

life and death.

You should know Communication Instructions 1944,

from cover to cover, as well as the other publications

which govern the conduct of naval communications.

You must be familiar with fleet and task organizations,

characteristics of radio frequencies, radio and crypto¬

graphic security, codes and ciphers, signals and tactics,

radio, intelligence, sound, and direction finder proce¬

dure.

SUPPLIES FOR YOUR SHIP

You must see that the following supplies are on hand

for use in the communication office and the coding room:

{a) Weighted covers for publications.

(b) Blue and green ink.

(c) Hole puncher.

(d) Forms for dispatches and correspondence.

(e) Pads and blotters.

(/) Pen sets.

(g) Rubber, stamps with the following legends:

Secret, Confidential, Restricted, Urgent,

Operational Priority, Priority, Routine,

Deferred, Mailgram, Airmailgram, etc.

(h) Stamp pads.

(i) Carbon paper.

(j) Tools.

(k) File boards.

3

(l) Index cards and case.

(m) Paper of all types.

(n) Folders.

(o) Scissors.

(p) Wire baskets.

(q) Stapler machine and staples.

(r) Scotch tape.

(5) Tapes. (^) Binders, pencils, stencils and mimeograph

paper.

(u) Canvas bags for destroying publications by

sinking.

These supplies can be obtained from civilian com¬

panies, navy yards, issuing offices, or the ship’s stores.

You should remember, however, that the above list is not

complete, and is only to help you get started.

PUBLICATIONS The Navy Department publishes hundreds of publi¬

cations which deal with a wide variety of subj ects. Glds-

sified publications are of three types: Secret, Confiden¬

tial, and Kestricted. Registered publications are classi¬

fied publications which bear a registered number. These

numbers are assigned by the K. P. S. (Registered Pub¬

lication Section) in Washington, D. C., and would run

from 1 to 3,000 if there were 3,000 copies of that particu¬

lar publication printed. All registered publications are

classified, but not all classified publications are regis¬

tered.

Your principal concern will be the secret and confi¬

dential publications used in the performance of your

communication duties, but, in addition, you are respon¬

sible for all other publications.

Classified and registered publications have “long

titles” and “short titles,” and you should be familiar

with both. For example, many gunnery publications

have the short title “ORD,” followed by a number (ORB

22). The long title of ORB 22 might be, “Instructions

4

for Bomb Nose Fuze, MK V.” Here are some of the

more common short titles with their meanings: FTP-

Fleet Training Publication; United States Fleet

(publication); ONI—Office of Naval Intelligence;

^PL—War Plans; WB—Weather Bureau; NWG—

Naval War College; DTB—Destroyer Tactical Bul¬

letin; HGTB — Heavy Cruiser Tactical Bulletin;

EN6^—Engineering; Bureau of Ships; GSP—

Communication Security Publication; PPN—Reg¬

istered Publication Section; HO—Hydrographic Office;

DNG—Director of Naval Communications (publica¬

tion) ; ORD—Bureau of Ordnance; GGBP—Combined

Communications Board Publication.

Many United States Navy and British Royal Navy

publication short titles are followed by a numeral or

letters in parentheses denoting the edition number.

Thus CSP 1271 (B) denotes the second edition of that

publication, CSP 1271 (AB) the twenty-eighth edition,

and SP 02380 (34) the thirty-fourth edition. The basic

short title remains the same but the edition number or

letter changes.

589550°—44-2 5

Nonregistered communication publications have been

assigned the short title “DNC” followed by a number.

DNC3 is the U. S. Navy Radio Call Sign Book, DNC4

the U. S. Navy Visual Call Sign Book.

Publications published by the Combined Communica-

cions Board are given the short title “CCBP” followed

by a number. Restricted CCBP’s are as follows:

CCBPl—Combined W/T Procedure; CCBP2—Operat¬

ing Signals; CCBP3—Combined R/T Procedure;

CCBP4—Combined Teletype Procedure; CCBP5—

Combined V/S Procedure; CCBP6—Extracts of

CCBP5 for aircraft; CCBP7—Combined Communica¬

tion Instructions; CCBP8—Combined Panel Code;

CCBPll—Fighter Director Vocabulary.*

There are also confidential and secret CCBP’s. These

publications are assigned numbers prefixed with 0 and 00 respectively.

As communication officer, you draw and stow all

registered publications and devices for your ship, not

just the ones pertaining to communications!

Many registered publications are in continual use

in the radio room. A list of these should be prepared,

and each successive watch should be required to check

this list and sign for them. This check list will aid

tremendously, as responsibility for any loss will be

fixed immediately.

You must keep all confidential and secret publica¬

tions in your custody locked in your safe when not in

use, except when they are issued to another officer

aboard, in which case he is responsible for their safe

stowage. You should obtain a signed custody receipt

for all such publications issued, either temporarily or

for permanent use, to other officers. (Be sure he under¬

stands the stowage requirements.)

Learn how to change the combination of your safe

right away. If some other officer knows the combina-

♦Note: Information in CCBPl and CCBP3 is contained in Cominst, 1944.

6

tion of your safe, change it immediately. Leave the new combination in a double sealed envelope with the captain. One word of caution: When you change the combination for the first time—and at all other times— be sure not to shut the door of the safe before you try out the new combination to make sure you set it cor¬ rectly. Try the new combination several fimes with the door open. It is very embarrassing to have the better part of a Class 5 allowance locked in a safe no one can open with an OP (Operational Priority) message waiting to be deciphered.

DETERMINING ALLOWANCE OF PUBLICATIONS

Let’s assume you are placing a ship in commission and do not have any publications. Publications are not placed aboard a vessel not in commission, but there is plenty you can do to get started. First get your P. C. O. (prospective commanding officer—prior to commissioning) or your C. O., as the case may be, to write you a letter of authorization (See KPSIO) to give the issuing officer. Here is a sample letter of authoriza¬ tion ; cut a stencil on it and have it filled appropriately every time you go to an issuing office:

uss_

(Date) From: Commanding Officer. To: Commandant. (Issuing Officer) Subject: Authority to Dray Registered Publications.

1. This is to certify that- whose signature appears below, is authorized to draw registered publications and mail for this command.

2. The above officer will present NAVPERS 546 (identification card) as a means of personal identification.

3. Documents drawn by this officer will be placed in proper stowage on the date the issue is made.

(Signed)

(Signature)

(Ship’s Seal)

Registered Publications Issuing Offices are store¬

houses for registered publications and devices. They

are usually located at naval district headquarters, some

Navy yards and naval operating bases. Find out from

some officer on a nearby ship where the RPIO for your

area is located. Before you start on your way, be sure

you have your letter of authorization, which is neces¬

sary every time you go to the RPIO, and your identi¬

fication card. Introduce yourself to the issuing officer,

show him your identification card, and present the letter

of authorization.

Unless you are a seasoned communication officer, the

issuing officer will probably give you the currently

effective edition of the Registered Publication Manual

to read before he issues you any publications. This is

your bible in regard to handling registered publica¬

tions. Read it from cover to cover and make sure you

understand your responsibilities as custodian. (Your

commanding officer is the “holder” and you are the

“custodian.”)

The first thing you will do is determine what “Class

Allowance” your ship holds. Class Allowances run

from Class 1 Afloat and Class 1 Ashore, to Class 5

Afloat and Ashore. There are no divisions of Class 6

and Class 7 allowances Afloat and Ashore. Class 1 is

the lowest allowance and Class 7 the highest. The cur¬

rently effective edition of the 0/SP 1150 series lists the

different types of ships, commanders, and shore stations,

and shows the class allowance of each unit or authority.

After determining your class allowance, you look in

the RPS allowance tables (currently effective editions of

RPS 6 and RPS 12) to find out wffiat specific publica¬

tions your allowance should have and the number of

each.

Working with the issuing officer, or one of his assist¬

ants, you check carefully the publications you are given

(check the registered number, number of copies, short

titles), wrap them up and place them in a mail bag,

8

sign a Transfer Report on Form RPS 1, take a carbon

copy for your files, and proceed to your ship, where

you stow all publications and devices in the safe. You

may be able to borrow a United States Navy station

wagon to take you and the bulging mail sacks to your

ship—ask the issuing officer. Carry a .45 with you

and make sure you know how to use it.

In addition to the United States Navy publications,

you must draw combined British-United States publi¬

cations, most of which bear the short title “SP”

followed by numbers. (SP means Signal Publica¬

tion.) To determine what combined publications you

draw from the issuing office, find out from RPS 12

CHECK PM^^EFULLV WITH THE ISSUlWG OFFICER

whether you are a major or a minor war vessel. Then

look in the allowance table in RPS 12 and determine

what specific publications you get. {RPS 12 also

gives you the United States Glassification of combined

publications.) These combined publications are just as

important as our own—more so in certain cases—and

must be read and understood at the first opportunity.

They must be corrected up to date immediately, along

with United States Navy publications.

The Registered Publication Manual gives you com¬

plete information on the handling of registered publi¬

cations ; how to set up card index files, what to include

in files, etc.

9

QUARTERLY REPORTS All registered publications in your custody must be

accounted for quarterly to the Chief of Naval Opera¬

tions (D. N. C.—Registered Publication Section) on

Form EPS 16. Every quarter you and a witnessing

officer “sight” all publications including those you havo

issued to various officers (look at them, check regis¬

tered number, count them), and make out your report.

If all registered publications and devices have been

accounted for, you write on form EPS 16: “The quar¬

terly inventory of registered publications and devices

was completed this date. No discrepancies.” Or, if

conditions warrant: “The quarterly inventory of reg¬

istered publications and devices was completed this

date. CSP 1000, registered number 999, missing, re¬

ported to CNO by dispatch (301134 of June 1942).”

In both of the above cases further notations are required

stating that all superseded publications that should be

destroyed have been destroyed, and that all receipts

10

have been duly executed and forwarded to the proper authority.

The exception to the rule in the preceding paragraph

is that at least once each calendar year you must submit

a complete report listing all publications and devices

by short title and registered number.

STATUS OF PUBLICATIONS Publications go through five stages during their life¬

time:

1. In preparation.

2. War Keserve (WK).

3. Reserve-on-board (ROB).

4. Effective.

5. Superseded.

Publications, after being printed, are distributed to

issuing officers in a War Reserve status and are not

issued to ships or stations. On a certain date, a pub¬

lication in a WR status goes to an ROB status, and

may then be issued to ships, but it is not to be used until

made effective. One of your most important duties, as

communication officer, is to make certain you have all

the ROB publications to which you are entitled.

Registered Publication Shipment Memoranda

{RPSM) furnish information to issuing officers on the

status of the different publications. You will receive,

from the RPIO, status sheets for use aboard ship. The

RPSM tell you when a publication goes from WR to

ROB, and the exact date on which it is effective and

should be used. Whenever you go to an RPIO be sure

to take with you the last number of the latest extract

from the shipment memoranda you received.

DESTRUCTION REPORTS When a publication is superseded it is burned. In

some cases, however, superseded publications are re¬

tained for some period of time, so make sure you burn

11

publications only when instructed by appropriate

authority. Whenever you burn a publication you must take

along another commissioned officer as a witness. After

burning the publications, you must submit a report of

destruction on form RPS 2. Make sure you never burn

a publication that is still effective. And never burn

anything prior to the date given in the instructions,

except under unusual circumstances (for example, when

it is in danger of being captured by the enemy).

CHANGE OF COMMAND A change of command in your ship or station will

necessitate a Transfer Keport on form KPS 16. The

currently effective edition of the Registered Publication

Manual gives you complete procedure for this type of

report; it is almost the same as a quarterly report.

SEND IN ALL REQUIRED REPORTS ON TIME,

AND BE SURE TO KEEP A CARBON COPY OF

ALL REPORTS AND RECORDS FOR YOUR

FILE.

CORRECTIONS TO PUBLICATIONS At the issuing office you will be given publications

which contain corrections to publications you have on

board. These publications will be included on the

transfer report you sign at the issuing office, so be sure

to check carefully and get everything you are signing

for. The publications containing changes come out

about every month and often contain important discus¬

sions of current communications as well as corrections.

Read them carefully and keep all publications in your

custody up to date.

The following is a list of these publications and what

they correct:

(1) CSPM (Communication Security Publication Memo¬

randa) contain changes to CSP publications, information con¬ cerning the date when certain publications will become effective,

12

superseded, or are to be burned. Read all CSPM carefully and

check off in colored ink the changes which affect your ship or station.

(2) CRPM {Combined Registered Publicatioyis Memoranda)

contain changes to combined British-U. S. publications having

such short titles as, SP, OU, CB, ASRS, AFO, BRIT8I0LET.

You may also find changes to an RPS publication so keep a

sharp look-out.

(3) RPM {Registered Publication Memoranda) contain

changes to all United States Navy publications except CSPs.

Here are some of the publications they correct: ORD, FTP,

ONI, V8F, HCTB, WPL, NWC, HO, WB, RP8.

Read all C8PM, CRPM, and RPM from cover to cover im¬

mediately upon receipt and check off the changes to be entered

by you. Your failure to enter a correction in time may have

KEEPING UP TO DATE

serious results. All changes are numbered consecutively and

are easy to keep track of. Show the captain any CSPM or

CRPM discussions you think would be of interest to him.

(4) NRPM {Nonregistered Publication Memoranda) contain

changes to nonregistered publications and “cut-out” pages.

Changes to any publication may be sent by dispatch on “F”

schedules, or by Basegram, in General Messages entitled ALCOM

(call sign DATA) ; see Communication Standing Orders. These

dispatch changes are confirmed later in CSPM, CRPM, RPM, or

NRPM, as appropriate.

You will enter a majority of the changes in colored

ink (not red) in the publication concerned. Some

CSPM and CRPM. contain “cut-out” pages at the end

of the booklet which can be cut out and pasted in the

SSSSSO"—44 13

publication. Other changes may be lengthy, in which

case you may type them either in the publication if it

is loose leaf, or on a sheet of white paper and paste it in

as a flap. After you enter a change, be sure to make a

note of the fact in the publication. In many publica¬

tions there is a page marked, “Record of Entry of

Changes,” but if there is not, make the note on the cover

or other open space. (CRPM 214/42 entered 12-16-^2,

John J. Doe, Ens., USNR.)

Important changes which cannot wait for the next

edition of a OSPM^ CRPM^ or RPM may be promul¬

gated by dispatch in cipher over the Fox schedule.

Changes are also sent out by letter, bulletin, or regularly

numbered change.

In regularly numbered changes (Change No. 1 to

U'SF 70)^ entire pages are reprinted incorporating all

changes to date. In this case you make a bodily substi¬

tution of pages in the loose-leaf publication. With

these numbered changes you receive a “List of Effective

Pages,” which tells you how many pages there should

be in the revised publication, and whether a page is

“original” or “Change No. 1.”

Regularly numbered changes, like many registered

publications, have “fly-leaf” receipts attached which you

must have filled out and sent to the RPS. Fly-leaf

receipts acknowledge receipt of a certain publication

or change to a publication, and state that subject publi¬

cation’s pages have been checked against the List of

Effective Pages and “(a) Found to agree therewith, or,

(h) Found to agree therewith except as follows (list

exceptions).” These changes become part of the basic

publication and are not listed separately on quarterly

reports or transfers after the changes have been entered,

and fly-leaf receipts properly executed. If there are

any missing pages, be certain to report them immedi¬

ately on the fly-leaf receipt form, which is signed by the

captain. Bind the carbon copy of the fly-leaf receipt

in the publication concerned.

14

Whenever your ship makes any port, go to the issuing

office (remember your letter of authorization) and draw

any additional publications to which you are entitled.

Take with you your last complete inventory on KPS 1,

and the number of the latest GSPM^ CRPM^ and RPM

you have aboard, as well as the number of the last ship¬

ment memoranda. This helps the issuing officer deter¬

mine what publications you need and prevents him from

giving you publications and devices you already possess.

Many communication officers forget to take the above

material with them, with the result that they draw

many things they already have aboard.

Drawing of publications in excess of authorized al¬

lowance is an offense worthy of a letter of admonition

or reprimand.

When in port for prolonged periods visit the issuing

office at least once a week.

Correct the more important publications first. Use

the precedence in Communication Instructions^ lOJfJf. as

a guide as to which publications should be corrected

first. Obey existing instructions regarding the correc¬

tion of ROB material.

Recognition signals should always he corrected before

any oiher publications. If your recognition signals are

uncorrected^ you may never have a chance to correct any

other publications.

RECOGNITION SIGNALS While it is not possible to discuss recognition signals

here, it must be realized that it is of vital importance

to keep all such signals up to date. (Recognition sig¬

nals are signals between allied vessels designed to estab¬

lish mutual identity.)

It is a sad fact that uncorrected recognition signals

have caused friendly vessels to fire on one another.

Don’t let this happen to you. Correct these signals

immediately and become thoroughly conversant with all

systems used in the area in which your ship is operating.

15

Post the daily extracts from effective recognition

signals on the bridge, if such is the current regulation.

See that all officers standing deck watches are thor¬

oughly familiar with them, and with the correct chal¬

lenge and reply procedure. Blinker tubes and Aldis

lamps, plus any other signalling equipment, should be

in good order and bulb replacements handy.

O. N. I. publications containing silhouettes of allied

and enemy vessels should be available in the ready safe

for use by the O. O. D.

Instructions in regard to recognition signals must

he observed at dll times. It is a matter of life or death

for you and your shipmates^ as well as for your ship,

OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION While the publications discussed so far furnish you

with much important information, additional data is

obtained from the following: Communication Circular

Letters; Navy Department semimonthly bulletins (re-

16

stricted and confidential); ONI Weekly; LANTFLT

(or PACFLT) Memoranda; LANTFLT (or PAG-

FLT) confidential letters; Gormminication Stcmding

Orders; letters and memoranda to various units

{DESLANT, SERYFOR, etc.)

CODES AND CIPHERS You will have a number of naval codes and ciphers

in your possession, and you are responsible for their

proper operation whether you, or the members of the

coding board, are doing the enciphering or deciphering.

You must be familiar with all systems held by your

command and be able to instruct others in their use.

It is your responsibility to make sure that no one

in your ship compromises any cryptographic system

through faulty encryption, failure to follow the instruc¬

tions, or careless conversation. How futile for brilliant

men to spend years devising a code or cipher only to

have it compromised by careless and incompetent offi¬

cers ! This is a serious matter, and one often taken too

lightly by officers who think the elaborate precautions

and instructions unnecessary.

The danger to our future operations resulting from

the capture of our cryptographic systems cannot be

overestimated. It is therefore necessary for you to

have a well-organized plan for the destruction of codes

and ciphers according to a definite precedence list.

Bead Gommunication Instructions, and take action

on it. Your ROB editions may be destroyed consider¬

ably in advance of destruction of effective systems if

deemed necessary by appropriate authority. The de¬

struction bill must cover every eventuality.

Most of the larger ships have regular coding rooms.

See that your coding room is well ventilated, equipped

with sufficient lighting (battle light close to the work¬

ing area), hooks for file boards, a safe, and an inter¬

communication system with radio central and other

necessary offices.

17

SECURITY Security is something like the weather. “Everybody

talks about it but nobody does anything about it!” Security is keeping classified information confined to

the channels where it belongs, and preventing the un¬ authorized dissemination of classified information re¬ garding any phase of naval operations or mechanical developments. It means not talking to anyone except authorized individuals about publications, codes or ciphers, or your work.

It is your responsibility to see that officers doing coding duty understand cryptographic security, that your radiomen understand and practice transmission security, and that no violations occur. Make sure all classified publications are stowed properly when not in use, and never issue a publication to an officer without getting him to sign a custody receipt giving the date, short title, and number of copies received.

As division officer you must impress on your men the importance of not divulging classified information or other official information in bars, cafes, and restaurants. A few seemingly innocent remarks dropped here and there may be just the information an enemy agent is looking for! See that security in all its phases is prac¬ ticed aboard your ship, bearing in mind that in some ships space limitations make certain undesirable prac¬ tices necessary as a matter of expediency.

MOVEMENT REPORTS Movement reports when required are covered in

publications or operation orders issued to those who need to know.

THE CODING BOARD The coding board is a group of officers in your ship,

designated by the commanding officer, who operate cryptographic aids held by the command. The size of the coding board depends on the type of ship. In large

18

ships the coding board stands regular watches, each watch breaking down traffic received during its tour of duty. The coding room watch officer (CKWO), or coding room supervisor, is in charge of all traffic handled during his watch.

It is your duty to instruct the members of the coding board in their duties. In this connection, see that every member of the coding board reads and understands Communication Instructions^ particularly chapter 4. He must be thoroughly familiar with the current instructions for each crytographic aid he will need to use and with all CSPM’s, CKPM’s, and ^PM’s which pertain to his duties.

Require the members of the coding board to keep the coding room neat and clean. Provide a basket marked, “BURN,” and see- that all work sheets are properly de¬ stroyed by fire and the ashes broken up.

The coding board should be familiar with all call signs by which the ship might receive traffic, and should know the fleet and task organization in which the ship is included. The ship’s calls, and all calls for which the ship is guard, should be enciphered prior to 0000 G. C. T. every day and posted at the radio operat¬ ing positions as well as in the coding room.

In time of war, petty officers of known trustworthi¬ ness may be members of the coding board. The com¬ manding officer may place any enlisted man on coding duty; it is no longer necessary to write the Navy De¬ partment concerning the matter, and such letters are no

longer desired. United States Navy Regulations, article 76 (21) (b)

allows authorization of especially reliable P. O.’s to handle secret documents within any ship, yard, station

or contiguous activities of a naval base. Plan the training of your coding board and instruct

them in all possible conditions which might arise in

your absence.

19

Instruct them in the routing of dispatches and make

sure they route important messages to officers concerned

at any hour of the day or night. Impress them with

the need of quick action in emergency cases.

Check all files the first thing in the morning and know

what has happened that may affect your ship.

You, and the coding board members, should be able

to touch type about 35-40 words per minute. If you

do not know how, learn!

It is a good idea to be familiar with some of the meth¬

ods used by our enemies in breaking down our crypto¬

graphic aids and acquaint the board with these methods.

Avoid mistakes which might prove fatal—letting the

plain language version of an encrypted dispatch get on

the air; improper operation of devices; stereotyped

phraseology; unnecessary and incorrect procedure mes¬

sages which divulge information to the enemy.

All officers doing communication duty should be fa¬

miliar with the Gommunication Standing Orders^ which

are a supplement to Gommunication Instructions. In

addition, they should understand the following: Cryp¬

to-channel charts, call sign ciphers and authentication

systems, GSP 11^67 Series^ and the GSP H68 Series.

ABBREVIATIONS A thorough knowledge of British and United States

Navy abbreviations is of the utmost importance to all

officers in communications. Cipher dispatches often

contain confusing abbreviations which hinder work un¬

less you recognize them right away. Members of the

coding board should study Gommunication Instructions^

Appendix F, GSP3I, GRPM, and RPM.

Here are a few abbreviations—do you know them?

BLADING, BUSANDA, CTU, FMF, FFT, PSANDT,

CTF, POA, ADCOMD, DFT, FABU, MIO, MRS,

NATS, NTS, PHIBTRAIN, PSP, RNV, STAG, TFC,

USRO and SATFOR.

20

PARAPHRASING One of your duties may be paraphrasing messages.

Paraphrasing is changing the wording and structure of

a message without changing the meaning!

It is surprisingly easy to alter the meaning of a dis¬

patch you are paraphrasing and you must guard con¬

stantly against such an error. Communication Instruc¬

tions contain instructions for paraphrasing.

The best method of paraphrasing is to shift the sen¬

tence order, being careful not to use too many synonyms.

Divide the message up into parts with light pencil

marks, number the divisions you have made, and then

rearrange the sequence in which the ideas in the message

are presented, being careful to include all the numbered

divisions. Always check the meaning of the para¬

phrase with that of the original message.

DRAFTING OF MESSAGES Careful drafting of texts to avoid stereotyped phrase¬

ology, redundancy, and excessive repetition hinders en¬

emy cryptanalysts in their utilization of statistical

methods of solution, which depend upon frequencies

resulting from habitual methods of expression.

Messages should never start with: EEQUEST AU¬

THORITY ... IN ACCORDANCE WITH . . .

YOUR (reference numbers). Messages should never

end with: COMPLY . . . DISPATCH REPLY RE¬

QUESTED . . . ADVISE. Read Communications

Instructions in this connection.

It is your responsibility to see that proper drafting

habits are practiced by officers originating messages

aboard your ship. Although you do not have the

authority to change any stereotyped phraseology, you

may go to the originator and tactfully suggest certain

changes, explaining why they are desirable; the chances

are he will make them. If he refuses, the message

must be encrypted and transmitted unaltered. Ex-

689550“—44-^^4 21

plain the pertinent parts of Gcommunication Instruc¬

tions to all officers who may have occasion to originate,

messages.

When it is necessary to refer to a letter in a dispatch

use simply the originator’s title (or abbreviation) and

the serial number of the letter and date. Do not include

the long name-title group and subject-number group,

they only make the dispatch unnecessarily long and

cumbersome. Example: “KEFERENCE COMINCH

SERIAL ZERO ONE EIGHT TWO NINE OF

APRIL FOUR.”

Many naval messages possess two common faults:

they are of too high a precedence, and they are over¬

classified. Explain to officers why their message is over¬

classified—if it is—and point out that it will get to the

addressee almost as quickly if sent routine, or even

deferred. Explain to officers that a classification of

secret does not mean the message goes in a more secure

cryptographic system, but that the classification

determines how the message is handled on receipt.

22

This is a point 90 percent of all originators do not

understand: restricted cryptographic systems are

inherently as secure as secret systems.

WHEN THE MESSAGE “WONT BREAK!” Security does not permit a detailed discussion of

what action to take if a coded dispatch addressed to

your ship will not “break.” However, before you send

a “service” message, such as QJM* or QMO, try all

the “tricks” you know to make the dispatch come out.

If this fails, you will have to resort to a service

message.

You must understand when to use a “J” asking for

verification of information in the heading or text^

when to use QMO asking for a repeat of the message

(used by coding board when a transmission garble is

suspected), and when to use QJM asking for verifica¬

tion and repetition of encipherment. Communication

Instructions^ chapter 4, contains detailed information

on how to handle specific situations, and should be

available to the coding board at all times.

Important messages which are partially garbled

should be routed immediately and the garbles cleared

later. In some cases garbles can be cleared by inspec¬

tion on the part of officers concerned.

INTERNAL ORGANIZATION Internal organization means the organization on

board your ship for handling dispatches received by

radio or visual, with reliability, security, and speed.

The internal organization of each ship will differ, but

the basic requirements remain the same; see chapter 3,

Communication Instructions.

Messages are addressed to your ship by placing your

radio, visual, or task organization call sign after the

date-time group in the heading of the message. There

*Q signals are from “Combined Operating Signals”.

23

is no indication of which officer aboard is to receive the

message for action. You, or the communication watch

officer (CWO), must read the text of the message

several times and decide what officer (s) would be

interested in it. If the captain is the action officer,

and the engineer officer and gunnery officer information

officers, you check the C. O. as ACTION on the dis¬

patch blank, and the other two as INFORMATION.

The action officer is the officer aboard your ship who

will take action on the message. On small ships the

C. O. is usually the action officer.

The information officer is the officer who takes no

direct action on the message, but who should be in¬

formed of the contents because it may concern him.

(There may be two or three information officers, or

more, depending on the situation.)

When an incoming message makes reference to a

previous message, have the earlier message available,

or even clip it to the new dispatch.

The number of copies prepared of secret and con¬

fidential messages is limited; see chapter 4, Communi¬

cation Instructions. These copies are distributed by

messenger and the FILE copy initialed by the men

receiving copies and returned to the code room file.

It is a good idea to keep a file board for each officer

aboard and clip his dispatches to it prior to routing

and after having been returned to the code room file.

File boards for the following will be necessary for a

medium-sized ship: Captain, executive officer, gunnery

officer, navigator, communication officer, first lieuten¬

ant, engineer officer, supply officer, medical officer,

signal and radio officers, and general (all officers).

The releasing officer is the officer who “releases”

outgoing messages for transmission. On small ships

he is usually the commanding officer, while on larger

ships he may be the executive officer, head of a depart¬

ment, or other designated officer (s). If a ship is under

radio silence no messages will be transmitted.

24

CENSORSHIP

In all probability you will be concerned with censor¬

ship of mail aboard your ship. If you are in charge of

the censorship board, organize it efficiently, making

maximum use of the available personnel. You will be

governed in the work by Censorship Regulations, U. S.

Navy, 194^.

WATCH STANDING AS 0. 0. D.

Communication officers on destroyers, and most auxil¬

iaries, are required to stand deck watches in port and

under way. The new officer will stand junior O. O. D.

watches until qualified to stand a watch under way. On

large vessels the communication officer and his assistants

normally do not stand deck watches.

If you are a graduate of a midshipmen’s school, do

not forget the seamanship, navigation, and gunnery you

learned just because you happen to be studying

communications.

Special service officers (D-V (S) and C-V (S) offi-

25

cers) should buy and study books on seamanship, navi¬

gation, and gunnery. Ask questions, keep notes, keep

your eyes open, and study books that will acquaint you

with naval ships, tactics, maneuvering, and rules of the

road. Remember, communications is only one of the

important cogs in the functioning of the United States Navy.

Here are some good books to purchase and study:

(1) The Bluejackets’ Manual.

(2) Naval Leadership, with Hints to Junior

Officers and Others.

(3) Naval Admii/istration, Vol. 1.

(4) The Watch Officers Guide, by Willson.

(5) Seamanship, by Knight.

(6) U. S. Navy Regulations, 1920.

(7) The Naval Officer’s Guide, by Age ton.

26

THE

The radio officer must organize and supervise radio

communication personnel to insure accurate, secure, and

rapid handling of radio communications, arrange for

guarding all required frequencies, see that transmitters

and receivers are kept in adjustment, and inspect circuit

logs and files. He must know radio and sound proce¬

dure, and prepare the watch, quarter, and station bill

for radio personnel. The detailed duties and responsi¬

bilities of a ship’s radio officer are given in Communica¬

tion Instructions^ 191^.

The radio supervisor is in direct charge of radio

central, and on large ships he is usually a chief radio¬

man.

If you are called upon to serve as radio officer aboard

your ship, see that watches are fair to your men. See,

too, that a good operator is ready to “back-up” an in¬

experienced man on an important message. Leave

orders to call you if something unusual arises.

Do not forget to post all enciphered calls which might

concern your ship for each 24-hour period; these enci¬

phered calls and their translations should be tacked

right beside the operating positions. Aboard ship the

radiomen usually operate the call-sign cipher, and if

this is the case in your ship, see that they post the

necessary calls.

Have periodic check-ups made to insure that all trans¬

mitters are accurately calibrated. Do not use one

transmitter all the time, distribute your load as much as

possible and keep all rigs in working condition. In

addition to transmitters, receivers and frequency meters

should be calibrated frequently.

27

FREQUENCIES-CALIBRATION OF TRANSIVlITTERS ANC RECEIVERS

Due to security and other factors it is impossible to

list accurately the frequencies with which you will be

concerned and on which you must calibrate your trans¬

mitters and receivers. Consult USF 70A ^ paragraph

2323, appropriate Fleet' Regulations^ and Communica¬

tion Instructions^ Appendix I, for specific informa¬

tion. The following frequencies are listed to help you

get started:

(1) 2716 he. is the naval calling frequency but today

it is used only in case of extreme emergency. The OTC

generally maintains a listening watch on 2716 kc.

(2) 375 kc. is the D/F frequency; used very little

today.

(3) 600 kc. is the distress and commercial calling fre¬

quency. It must be guarded by every detachment at

sea. Guard ships will be designated by the OTC.

(4) 2000 kc. hand may be used as an intra-unit emer¬

gency circuit and in case of low visibility and separa¬

tion ; specific frequencies in this band will be designated

by the OTC. Area freguencies also lie in this band,

and should be guarded by one ship in a detachment when

within waters having an area frequency.

(5) 3000 kc. is the “scene of action” frequency. A

loudspeaker on the bridge is usually cut in on this fre¬

quency when appropriate. Your attention is invited

to Communication Instructions., 191^1^., Appendix I,

Article 141.

(6) 1^35 kc. NERK series is the primary ship-shore

circuit. A continuous watch need not be maintained

(unless so ordered), but equipment should be calibrated

and ready for use on these frequencies. These frequen¬

cies are to be used only for ship-shore traffic.

If you have a message that is to be placed on the shore

communication system, and plan to use one of the fre¬

quencies in the 4235 kc. NEKK series, do not invariably

28

call a specific shore radio station. If any difiiculty is

experienced in raising a particular shore station, use

the call sign NQO (Any or All Naval Shore Radio

Stations) in preference to the call of a specific station.

The use of NQO eliminates the possibility that if any

particular shore station is busy at the time you call, or

cannot hear you due to skip distance, your ship will

call and receive no answer. Send your traffic to any

shore station which answers your call and have him

place the message on the shore communication system.

(7) 60-80 me. Frequencies in this range are used for

Inter-Unit Emergency Maneuvering circuits with

TBS or TBY equipment. Transmitters and receivers

should be calibrated on all VHF bands which might be

used.

In connection with frequencies, their characteristics

and ranges, your attention is invited to appendix B of

this publication.

TRAINING Many radiomen going to the fleet today are recent

graduates of radio schools and cannot be considered

experienced operators. Organize a school for further

training in code, procedure, and material. A few weeks

of carefully planned training should make most of

these men dependable operators capable of holding

down a circuit.

RADIO PROCEDURE You must have a thorough knowledge of radio pro¬

cedure as explained in Communication Instr-uctions.,

19U., chapter 6, Be familiar with commonly used oper¬

ating signals (“Q” signals) and naval radio organiza¬

tion-fleet frequency plans, OPLANS.^ USF 70A.^ Com¬

munication Instructions., Appendix I, and the pertinent

LANTFLT or PACFLT publications.

It may never be necessary for you to draft a heading

for an outgoing dispatch, but your men respect you

589550*—44- ■5 29

more if they know that you kno^f how to do it. Every

officer in communications should be an expert at drafting

all types of messages. See that your radiomen place an “operator’s service”

on all messages transmitted and received. The service

should include the following data: (1) Ship or station

received from or sent to; (2) Time of receipt (TOR),

or time of delivery (TOD); (3) Method (frequency,

semaphore, blinker, etc); (4) Initials or sign of the

operator handling the transmission.

LEARN RADIO PROCEDURE - DON'T 6E A WALLFLOWER?

Your duties do not require you to operate a radio

circuit, but it is a fine thing if you can. Learn the code

and bring your speed up to about 25 words per minute.

Here again, your men will think more of you if you

know their job as well as your own. Plug in on the Fox

schedule and increase your speed.

The routing of plain English traffic to the various

officers is a function of the radio supervisor under the

supervision of the communication watch officer. If you

are CWO, make sure all such traffic is routed correctly.

(Coded dispatches are usually routed by the members

30

of the coding board or the coding room watch officer.)

Radio-telephone communication is important, partic¬

ularly in convoys and on smaller ships. Know radio¬

telephone procedure as described in Communication

Instructions^ make sure unauthorized transmissions do not take place.

If you are attached to a naval air station or an air¬

craft carrier, radio-telephone is of tremendous impor¬

tance. Your organization should provide for quick

action in decoding messages, and rapid designation of

action officers. Only alert, intelligent radiomen should

be called upon to man these ’phone circuits—when

things start happening it is no time to have a man turn

with a blank look on his face and ask, “What do I do

now?”

Keep the use of voice circuits to a minimum, and

observe strict precautions that no information of poten¬

tial value to the enemy is transmitted. When sending

signals from CSP 950 or GSP 73^^ encode them in the

effective edition of the Signal Cipher.

Arrange for a “cease talking” signal for R/T cir¬

cuits ; the blowing of a whistle or some type of variable

pitch tone may be used successfully. Be sure the radio¬

man keeps a log of all important transmissions.

Temporary call signs are often used on voice circuits

within a unit only. Such calls consist of the names of

objects which can be clearly understood; example:

CHICKEN, SUPERMAN, LOLLYPOP. A call using

these call signs would be: “SUPERMAN THIS IS

LOLLYPOP OVER!”

UNDERWATER SOUND Underwater sound equipment will also be under your

supervision as radio officer. Destroyers, some sub¬

marines and other vessels, have supersonic “echo-rang-

ing” gear which permits them to follow the movements

(track) of enemy submarines. The sound equipment

sends out a pulsing signal which bounces back when it

31

strikes an object. Knowledge of the speed of the sig¬

nal through water at a certain temperature permits

determination of the range of the object.

The sound operator, knowing the range, determines

the bearings of the object and reports his findings to

the appropriate officer who takes offensive action.

Underwater sound gear is used not only for track¬

ing, but also for listening for propeller sounds, and for

communicating with friendly vessels.

Study your supersonic equipment and learn how to

operate it. The Sound Operators Handbook^ published

by the West Coast Sound School, San Diego, Califor¬

nia, 1942 edition, is an excellent source of information

on this interesting subject.

RADIO DIRECTION FINDING Radio direction finding is an important aid to naviga¬

tion and you will have D/F equipment aboard. You

should understand the principles of D/F, the difference

between a beacon station and a D/F station, and cali¬

bration procedure. Be familiar with HO 205 and HO

206 and look up current communications regarding

beacon operation.

A radio beacon station sends out a signal containing

an identifying letter at certain specified times and the

ship takes the bearing. Bearings on three or more

beacon stations permit the ship to determine its ap¬

proximate position.

Radio direction -finder stations take bearings on a

transmitting ship or aircraft and send the result in

the D/F code. (Be sure you understand how to operate

the “garble table.”) D/F stations track enemy units

during war, i. e., follow their movements by taking suc¬

cessive bearings and plotting them on a master chart.

Learn how to take bearings yourself. Do not be

afraid to ask a radioman about points you do not under¬

stand. It may be necessary for you to man the D/F in

an emergency.

32

Bureau of Ships Manual, chapter 67 (M. E. I. chapter

30), contains information on D/F calibration and opera¬

tion. Read CSP 11^9(^), bring it to the attention

of your commanding officer; familiarize yourself with

enemy frequencies, and be on your toes. (See CB 4002

series and various fleet letters.)

CONTACT AND AMPLIFYING REPORTS

For information on Contact and Amplifying Reports

see Communication Instructions^ USF 70A^ and appro¬

priate LANTFLT or PACFLT publications. Know

what frequency to use in sending these reports and to

whom to send them.

RADIO THEORY It is not'essential that you understand complicated

radio theory but it is an excellent idea to know enough

so you feel at home with transmitters and receivers, and

can be of assistance in an emergency.

Buy a good book on technical radio written for be¬

ginners and study it. As radio officer, you should

understand the characteristics and ranges of different

frequencies, skip distance, harmonics (series), and ele¬

mentary transmitter and receiver operation. Under¬

standing Radio^ by Watson, Welch and Eby, is a good

elementary book, while The Radio Amateurs Hardhooh

is better for the more advanced students.

CARELESS RADIO OPERATION Careless, unauthorized radio operation endangers

your ship. Enemy D/F stations may take bearings,

obtain valuable information on your supposedly secret

location, and take action. Your radiomen must under¬

stand and practice transmission security.

Tune transmitters before weighing anchor and not

just prior to reaching your objective. Radio silence,

when prescribed, must be strictly maintained. The only

2958 33

person who can authorize breaking radio silence in your

ship is the commanding officer. (See USF 70A.)

Read Communication Instructions for a complete

discussion of transmission security; bring it to the

attention of your radiomen. A knowledge of radio

procedure is essential if you are to understand this

reference. Read also CNO Security Bulletins.

Encrypted call signs can be compromised by radio

men who have pronounced personal sending character¬

istics—“swing.” Discourage “swing” and make

offending operators practice on an audio oscillator and

eliminate it.

DISTRESS CALLS ON 500 KC. 500 kc. is the International distress frequency, and

today many distress signals are being transmitted on

this frequency by merchant vessels. Great care must

be taken to make certain the call is legitimate, and not

a fake sent by the enemy to lure naval vessels to the

position.

The distress frequency must be guarded (listened in

on) during the two silent periods each hour, unless it

is being guarded continuously. {See Communication

Instructions^ chapter 6.) The silent periods are 3 min¬

utes in duration, from X: 15 to X: 18, and from X: 45

to X: 48, each hour.

Communication Instructions for Merchant Ships

{CIMS-i2) (or Wartime Instructions for Merchant

Ships, WIMS-1, WIMS-2, and WIMS-3, when ef¬

fective) gives radio procedure for use by United States

Merchant Vessels. Read CIMS-J^2 (or WIMS-1,

WIMS-2 or WIMS-3 when effective) and become famil¬

iar with the signals in it.

ADVANCEMENT IN RATING

Everyone wants to go up in the world—an ensign

wants to be a “jg” and the captain wants to be an ad¬

miral. Your radiomen want to advance too, and it is

34

part of your job to see they are supplied with the proper

BuPers training courses to study. This applies to sig¬

nalmen if you are signal officer, and to yeomen if you

are ship’s secretary.

Encourage “strikers” to study for their “crows” and

radiomen to study for advancement. It means more

money for them and a healthy mental condition. If

you have men who are officer material, try to get them

commissioned. The Navy needs good officers and there

are a number of enlisted men who fulfill the require¬

ments. If you expect your enlisted men to work for

you, you have to go to bat for them.

FILES Required files are explained in Communication In¬

structions. The radio station file contains copies of all

messages sent, received, and relayed by radio telegraph.

Inspect the radio file and the circuit logs at frequent in¬

tervals and know what is happening.

Messages should be filed by the most convenient sys¬

tem for your ship and its internal organization. This

is normally by date-time group in the heading of the

message, with outgoing and incoming messages in differ¬

ent files. This makes it easy to pick out a dispatch if

the originator, at a later date, says MYDIS 081111.

You would look in the incoming file under the eighth

day of the current month and locate the dispatch with

those reference numbers. For intra-Navy use, the zone

suffix letter Z is omitted if time is GOT.

Separate files are kept for general messages

(ALNAV, NAVOP, USFLEET, etc.), and for Fox

schedule messages. Fox schedule messages should be

filed in order of station serial number, making it easy

to locate a particular dispatch if you send or receive a

QHB 1 or QHB 2.

Keep all files in good order so you can lay your hands

on a dispatch at a moment’s notice. If you have a tacti¬

cal file of your organization which shows what action

35

is taking place, have it conveniently indexed according

to a definite system, and not some haywire system of

your own.

A radio officer’s work is alive and interesting. Work

at your job, learn the radio code, study the important

material in the field, show your men that you are

interested in radio and in tkem. Be a leader—show by

doing! Do not loaf around and work only hard enough

to get by—grab your job with both hands and master it!

36

THE

SlSHUL OFFICER The duties of the ship’s signal officer are set forth

in Communication iTistructions and are similar to those

of the radio officer except that the signal officer is deal¬

ing with a different medium of communication.

SIGNAL ORGANIZATION

The signal officer is in charge of all visual communi¬

cation personnel and must see that they are proficient

in procedure and in the operation of the different

visual signalling devices. If you are signal officer be

sure that your signalmen are alert for all signal lights

and the recognition signals effective during their watch.

You are responsible for the training of signalmen

and must see that BuPers training courses are avail¬

able.

In most ships a chief signalman is under the signal

officer, and the signalmen and strikers under the chief.

Chief quartermasters are also proficient in visual sig¬

nals. These chief petty officers can be of great help to

an inexperienced signal officer; do not be afraid to ask

them questions about things you do not understand.

FLAG HOIST As signal officer you should be able to read all the flags

and pennants and be proficient in the use of the Signal

Books and the U. S, Navy Yisual Gall Book,

Learning to flip the pages of the General Signal

Book quickly to the correct signal takes time; practice

until you attain both' accuracy and speed. The Visual

Call Sign Book is more complicated than The Radio

37

Call jSign Booh^ but once you understand the basic calls

and the systems for generating compound calls—partic¬

ularly task organization calls—their interpretation

becomes a matter of seconds.

Learn the use of such Navy flags and pennants as:

CORPEN, TURN, DEPLOY, ANS, FORM. Be

familiar with the governing flags and their meanings.

Flag hoist is one of the most important methods of

visual signalling and to understand it thoroughly you

must be familiar with tactical movements of ships,

changes of course, lines of relative bearing, time and

types of routine reports, such as position reports and

noon fuel reports.

You should be able to stand on the bridge and read

a flag hoist, interpret the call and be looking up the

S3

signal when the message comes from the signal bridge.

Familiarize yourself with all calls for the organization

of which your ship is a part, and with the effective

Signal Cipher,

Mersigs,, Volume I {BR 637) (or Wartime Instruc¬

tions for Merchant Ships, WIMS-1, WIMS-2, and

WIMS-3 when effective) is important if you are acting

as a convoy escort vessel. The International Code of

SignalsVolume /, is used for communicating with mer¬

chant ships of any nationality.

FLASHING LIGHT

Flashing light is another important means of visual

communication, and you should be able to read it from

yardarm blinkers, searchlight, or blinker tube, at a

speed of 10-15 words per minute. It is a comfortable

feeling not to have to wait for a signalman to inform

you what is happening. Kead it yourself.

Accuracy, not speed, is important in flashing light.

Do not let any of your signalmen “burn up” the other

fellow just to show how fast he can send. • Fast,

sloppy sending makes for repeats and wastes time.

Blinker tube and Aldis lamp communication is

especially important today and is used to transmit

and answer recognition signals. These directional

systems afford greater security than yardarm blinker

or large signal searchlight because the light beam is

directed toward a specific objective. In both cases, a

trigger instead of a telegraph key is used to form the

characters of the International Morse Code.

Semaphore and flashing light procedure is so similar

that semaphore can be used by a ship receiving a DFL

(direct flashing light) transmission. This may be

necessary at times during daylight for ships which do

not have enough signal searchlights to accomplish

automatic relays. (See Communication Instructions.)

39

SEMAPHORE Although not as important as flag hoist or flashing

light, semaphore is used a good deal and you should

be able to read it about 15-18 words per minute. Here

again, you can copy a message yourself and perhaps

catch an error a signalman might let slip through.

As signal officer, you have an excellent opportunity

to become proficient in signals and tactics; take advan¬

tage of it.

VISUAL PROCEDURE A knowledge of visual signalling procedure is essen¬

tial. It is somewhat similar to radio procedure but

simpler. Communication Instructions^ 19^.^ chapter 7,

discusses visual procedure and other important material,

such as miscellaneous visual and sound signals.

40

VISUAL FILE

A visual station file is kept of all incoming, outgo¬

ing, and relayed messages. This file should be kept

neat, orderly, and up to date. A visual log book also is

kept and is similar to the radio log. Inspect both files

and logs often.

DRILLS

One of your most important duties is the drilling of

your signal gang to increase their knowledge, accuracy,

and speed. Signal competitions are fine for keeping

up interest when time lags. .

Drill your signal force not only in Navy signals, but

in signals from the Internatiorial Code of Signals^

Voluwye /, for communication with merchant vessels,

and in Mersigs^ Volume /, {BR 637) (or WIMS when

effective) for convoy communications. Drill in these

publications should embrace flag hoist, flashing light,

and semaphore.

Develop a smart signal gang and show them you are

interested in them and that you know what is going

on. Try to be as good or better than they are. Then,

and only then, will you get the most out of them.

41

The ship’s secretary is responsible for the care and

routing of all ship’s correspondence, for the stowage

and custody of secret and confidential matter issued

him, and for the operation and maintenance of material

used in connection therewith. He shall keep informed

of the progress of correspondence from officer to officer,

and maintain a follow-up system (tickler file) to insure

that letters and other routed material are returned to

the captain’s office within a reasonable length of time.

Communication Instructions list the duties of the ship’s

secretary.

The administration of the postal service is under the

CNO (DNC). A confidential mail address list is issued

to all ships and stations (with frequent changes). The

latest list is contained in CNO confidential letter, sub¬

ject: “Mail Addresses for Classified Bases and Organi¬

zations Located at Classified Bases,” which is printed in

the Navy Department Confidential Bulletin.

CORRESPONDENCE AND FILING U. S, Navy Regulations^ 1920^ chapter 52, contains

a discussion of Navy correspondence. If you are serving

as ship’s secretary, you should be familiar with the

chain-of-command, particularly as it concerns your

organization.

The Formulation of Directives is another publication

with which you should be familiar; it outlines the form

to be used in operation plans, operating orders, and

dispatch order forms. The full title of this publication

is, Sound Military Decision^ Including the Estimate of

43

the Situation and the Formulation of Directives^ pub¬ lished by the Naval War College, Newport, R. I.

The U. S. Navy Filing Manual gives you instructions for the filing of official correspondence and lists file des¬ ignations for all subjects. See that your yeomen follow the system set up in this publication.

The Mechanics of Navy Correspondence^ published by the Gregg Publishing Co., New York, N. Y., is an extremely useful booklet on that subject.

MAIL LOG As ship’s secretary you will keep the classified and

registered mail logs. All such mail must be logged in and out, and your log should make provision for enter¬ ing the following information: classification, date mailed, date received, file number, registered num¬ ber, subject, from-, to -, via _, remarks, and ship’s serial number.

Classified mail shall be accorded stowage and han¬ dling as required by U. S. Navy Regulations^ 1920^ article 76, which contains a definition of secret, confi¬ dential and restricted matter.

NAVY MAIL CLERKS Navy mail clerks who handle mail aboard ship are

enlisted men of regular Navy ratings or nonrated men nominated by their commanding officer, and so desig¬ nated by the Post Office Department. Navy mail clerks of specialist (M) ratings, including WAVES, serve only on shore stations, and the WAVES only in con^ tinental United States. Mail clerks sell stamps, make up and dispatch mail, and receive and open all pouches addressed to the ship, in addition to delivering mail and performing other postal duties. Each mail clerk and assistant mail clerk takes an oath of office and is bonded for a sum of not less than $1,000.

The mail clerk receives necessary equipment from postal authorities. He will maintain a sufficient stock

44

of required items, requisitioning them as need indicates.

All postal equipment, except empty mail bags, will be

stowed in the post office safe.

The following are to be read carefully and followed

in the operation of the ship’s post office; the communi¬

cation officer will make the checks and inspections

required:

(1) Instructions for the Guidance of Navy Mail

Clerks and Assistant Navy Mail Clerks^ issued by the

Postmaster General, Washington, D. C.

(2) Bureau of Naval Personnel Manual^ articles

D-5305 to D-5311.

(3) U. S. Navy Regulations^ 1920^ chapter 53.

(4) Other orders and instructions issued by com¬

petent authority.

Kemember that mail from home is good for morale.

Organize the ship’s postal system efficiently and take

every step to see that mail is forwarded to your ship by

the postal authorities; notify all hands’ when the mail

will close so those who wish can write a letter home.

^ ^ ^

Bear in mind that you may be assigned to a small

vessel as communication officer and be prepared to per¬

form all the duties discussed in this booklet and the

references. Or, you may be the signal officer, or assist¬

ant radio officer, or just a member of the coding board

and CWO on a large ship. Whatever task you are

assigned upon reporting aboard, throw yourself into it

with all the energy and ability you possess.

Develop skill in the practical as well as the adminis¬

trative aspects of your job. Your men will respect you

more and work harder if they know you can do what

they are doing. Do not tell everyone how much you

know, show them by your handling of specific situations.

Technical knowledge and practical proficiency are not

worth much if you cannot get along with your fellow

men. Learn their names, treat them fairly, help them

45

study for advancement, and do not let the state of your

liver influence your attitude toward them. Reward a

job well done with a word of commendation. Be de¬

pendable, be strong, be sincere—he a leader.

Remember, we are all learning every day of every

year; never think you know all there is to know. Say

little but keep your eyes and ears open. If you make a

mistake, admit it, but do not make the same mistake

twice. When you are given an order, carry it out

quickly and accurately. One of the finest things a

senior officer can say about you is, is de'pendahle.'^'*

In emergency situations, DO SOMETHING. Do

not sit around and wait for your senior officer—it may

be too late. Initiative and common sense are important

in the Navy.

“Aim at success but never think you have achieved

it!”

46

APPENDICES APPENDIX A

SIMPLIFIED NAVAL RADIO W/T PROCEDURE

The heading of a naval message is important because

it tells the originator of the message and to whom it is

addressed. It tells whether the message is urgent, oper¬

ational priority, priority, routine, or deferred, and it

tells the radioman how to route the message to the ad¬

dressees. At first glance, the heading of a naval mes¬

sage appears to be a confused jumble of letters and

numbers, but after you learn the meaning of the letters

and numbers, it makes sense.

A message will never get to the addressees if the head¬

ing is copied incorrectly; impress this on your radio¬

men. On the fleet broadcast schedule (the Fox schedule)

each group in the heading is sent twice to make sure

that operators copy it correctly.

There are two naval forms in use today:

(I) Plaindress. In plaindress messages the address

(originator and addressees) appears in the heading.

There are four types of plaindress messages:

(a) Normal.

{b) Modified—normal.

(c) Abbreviated.

(d) Modified—abbreviated.

(II) CoDRESS. The heading of a codress message

contains only such data as are necessary to effect the par¬

ticular transmission in question. The only call signs

in the heading, after the call, belong to those activities

who are to break down the cipher text of the message

as it appears on a particular schedule. (Note.—See

Communication Standing Order No. 6A.)

47

PLAIN DRESS MESSAGES

Because plaindress messages are more difficult to un¬

derstand, let’s take them up first. A plaindress message

is composed of the following parts:

(1) The call.

(2) Preamble.

(3) Address.

(4) Message instructions.

(5) Text.

(6) Message ending.

This sounds complicated, so let’s examine each part

and see what it does and what it contains.

(1) The Call. If there is a group of people stand¬

ing around watching you trying to start your car, and

you want Bill Jones to help you, you say, “Hey, Bill

Jones, come here and give me a hand!” Everyone hears

you, but Bill Jones knows you are calling him. It is

the same in naval radio; the call tells who is calling

whom, only instead of using a man’s name in the call,

you use a radio call sign. Thus, NSS is the call sign

for Radio Washington, NAH for Radio New York,

NAD for Radio Boston.

Many times there are a number of stations operating

on the same frequency and you must make sure the

call is sent accurately and distinctly to avoid confu¬

sion. Here is an example of a preliminary call:

NSS V NAH K

The prosign “V” means “from” or “calling.” In the

above example. Radio New York (NAH) is calling

Radio Washington (NSS). He says, in effect, “Hey,

NSS, this is NAH calling you!” Or, “NSS from NAH,

answer!” The prosign “K” means “Go ahead, trans¬

mit”

Let’s take a minute and see how naval call signs are

assigned.

Naval shore radio stations are assigned three-letter

48

call signs starting with the letter “N”—NSS, NAH,

NAD, NPM, NSC.

Naval ships are assigned four-letter call signs starting

with “N”—NIDN, NADV, NITR, NICS.

Collective and command call signs are letter-numeral-

letter, letter-letter-numeral-letter, or four-letter pro¬

nounceable in formation, such as D4G, AB2B or CHOW.

A collective call sign is one which calls a group of

ships—M8Q is the collective call sign for SUBDIV 14

which might be composed of three submarines. A com¬

mand call calls for the commander of a group of ships

or fleet division—F6G is the call sign for COMSUBDIV

14. The only way you can tell whether a letter-numeral-

letter call sign is collective or command in meaning is

to look it up in the U, S. Navy Radio Call Sign Booh.

If CDD 65 (Commander Destroyer Division 65) is em¬

barked in your ship, you must know his call sign and

receive traffic addressed to him.

Naval shore activities, such as commandants of naval

districts, navy yards, and. bureaus in Washington, D. C.,

are assigned call signs but these call signs are not radio

calls in spite of the fact they are used in the headings

of radio messages. Such call signs are four-letter pro¬

nounceable words which do not start with the letter “N.”

The call sign for the CNO is MUSK, the call sign for

BuDocks is FKOG.

Because these are not radio calls, you can n^ver send

a call like this on a radio circuit: MUSK V NAH K.

You must call the radio station which is guard (sends

and receives traffic) for MUSK, which is NSS (Radio

Washington), and indicate in the address of the mes¬

sage that the message is to be delivered to MUSK.

In teletype communication, however, it is proper to

send the pronounceable call of the shore activity if that

activity has a teletype room and receives traffic direct

without going through the radio guard station’s wire

room. Example: ABIR V NAD, is proper because

COMEASTSEAFRON (ABIR) has a teletype room

49

and sends and receives his own traffic. This call would

be incorrect if sent by radio; NAD would then have to

call NAH, the radio station which is guard for CESF.

“Combination” call signs are a little more complicated,

but not at all difficult. There is a call sign for “Inspector

of Naval Material at_”, which is BIDE. There

are also geographical call signs; the call for New York,

N. Y., is BELT. Therefore, the call for “Inspector

of Naval Material at New York, N. Y.” would be BIDE

BELT—a “combination” call sign.

Shore activities which have teletype machines of

their own are normally assigned two-letter call signs

such as “PD”. Here is a typical teletype call: “PD V

KJ P144 ...”

The U. S. Navy Radio Gall Sign Booh contains full

details on the various types of call signs and their use.

You will find it convenient to place tab markers on

certain pages to indicate clearly the different sections

of the book. You must also understand all types of

visual calls as listed in the U, S. Navy Visual Gall Sign

Booh; pay particular attention to the generation of

task call signs. SP 02378 lists combined British-U. S.

Kadio Call Signs. Be sure you know all call signs

assigned your ship and the unit of which she is a part!

Today most call signs are cryptographed in the

effective call sign cipher.

(2) The Preamble. The preamble may contain

one or more of the following three items:

{a) Station serial numhers are used on certain mes¬

sages to assist the receiving station in ascertaining

whether it has received all messages sent to it by a

particular transmitting station. Shore stations usually

use a separate series of numbers for each shore station

communicated with during the month. The first mes¬

sage to each shore station monthly after 0000 of the

first day of the month (GCT) is numbered one, and

the succeeding messages to the same shore station are

50

numbered consecutively until the following month, after

which a new series starts again.

Station serial numbers on the Fox schedule .begin at

1 and run for a month in most cases, after which a new

series begins. Ships normally do not use serial num¬

bers; look up current regulations regarding use of

station serial numbers. Example: NSS sends NBA his

twenty-third message of the day:

NBA V NSS NR23 ...

(b) Precedence is indicated in the Preamble im¬

mediately following the station serial number (if any).

Precedence prescribes the order in which messages are

to be handled; there are five classes of precedence in

the United States Navy:

O Urgent.

OP Operational Priority.

P Priority.

B* Routine.

D Deferred.

Example: NSS sends NBA his twenty-fourth mes¬

sage of the day which is Operational Priority to all

addressees:

NBA V NSS NR24 - OP - . . .

(Note.—The separative sign, transmitted “II,” re¬

corded as a dash (-) is used to set off prosigns which

might otherwise be confusing to the receiving operator.

Notice its uses in the examples which follow.)

A message does not have to be the same precedence

to all addressees; it might be OP to one addressee and P

to the others. This is what is meant by dual precedence.

In such cases, both precedence prosigns will appear in

the Preamble but only one will have call signs following

it; this precedence prosign will be the one which applies

•Prosign “R” is used only in dual precedence messages.

51

to the smaller number of addressees. The remaining

prosign applies to all other addressees.

Example: NSS sends his twenty-fifth message of the

month to NBA. It is Operational Priority to M3G and

P9K, and Priority to A4D, J4Q, L8C, and PLUG (all

these call signs are included in the address, as you will

see shortly):

NBA V NSS NR25 - OP - MSG P9K - P -...

Here, OP applies to the call signs following it. The P

applies to the rest of the addressees.

{c) Transmission Instructions are the last item in

the Preamble and consist of instructions from operator

to operator on how to deliver the message to addressees.

Transmission instructions may contain the following

prosigns:

F—Do not answer.

G—Repeat this transmission back to me.

T—(alone)—Station called transmit this message

to all addressees.

Operating Signals—Three-letter signals starting

with “Q” Avhich convey standard information in

condensed form.

N—Exempted.

Example: NSS sends NWP his fourth message of the

month. It is deferred to all addressees. NWP is to

transmit to all addressees.

NWP V NSS NR4 - D - T - ...

Example: NSS sends NAU his forty-fifth message of

the month, priority to all addresses. The message is

action to SUBDIV 14 (M8Q) info COMSUBSLANT

(D8U). NAU is told to transmit to M8Q less NIGS.

Delivery has been made to D8U and NIGS by other

means:

NAU V NSS NR45 - P - T - M8Q - N - NICS - A - NSS

162030 M8Q ^ W - D8U - GR15 BT

52

See Communication Instructions for further examples

of data in transmission instructions.

(3) The Address. The address is the most impor¬

tant part of the heading. If it is garbled an important

message may never reach its destination, and an engage¬

ment with the enemy may be lost. The address must

be copied correctly.

The prosign “A” always starts the address of a mes¬

sage except when the call serves as the address. “A”

means, “The originator of this message follows.” If

a message originates with BuPers (STAR) it would

look like this:

NERK V NSS NR6-D-A-STAR ...

Naval messages, with a few exceptions, have a “date-

time” group. Of reference numbers, immediately follow¬

ing the call sign of the originator. This date-time

group shows the date and time of origin. The first two

numerals are the date (dates 1-9 are prefixed by 0), and

the last four the time in GCT. In “joint” (U. S. Army-

Navy) and “combined” (United States-Allied Nations)

communications, the time is followed by a zone suffix

letter; see G omifminication Instructions and SP

02S76{2).

241534 means the twenty-fourth day of the current

month, and the time of origin is 1534 (GCT). Because

the time in Greenwich, England, is 4 hours ahead of our

time (EWT) at New York, N. Y., we subtract 4 hours

from 1534 to find local time. In this case it would be

1134Q (plus 4).

Immediately after the date-time group come the call

signs of the action and information addressees. Call

signs which follow prosign “W” are information

addressees.

Example: Opnav (MUSK) originates a message,

action to USS Texas (NADV) and information to USS

New York (NADT). It is being transmitted on the

NSS “F” schedule:

53

NERK V NSS NR7-A-MUSK 150039 NADV-W- NADT

The prosign “N” may be used in the address to exempt

one ship from a collective call sign in which she is

included.

Example: Opnav (MUSK) originates a message,

action to COMSUBSLANT (DIN), and information to

SUBDIV 14 (M8Q) less USS Bonita (NICS):

NERK V NSS NR889-P-A MUSK 081111 DIN-W- M8Q-N-NICS

The above message is being sent on the NSS “F”

schedule which all addressees are copying at sea. A

message once transmitted on a regular “F” method

schedule is considered delivered to all addressees re¬

quired to copy the schedule.

Neither the 'precedence nor the address may be altered

by relaying stations.

(4) Message Instructions. Message instructions

precede the text and may contain appropriate Operat¬

ing Signals (“Q” signals), the group count, and the

“long break” (BT). Example: Cominch (S4G) originates a message,

action to USS New York (NADT) and information

to USS Arkansas (NACT). Both addresses are to

inform Cominch when they receive the message (QHR

is an Operating Signal from CGBP 2); the group

count is 78:

NERK V NSS NR890 - A - S4G 091212 NADT - W -

NACT QHR GR 78 M’ . . .

The Message Instructions are fixed by the originator

and may not be altered by others.

(5) The Text. Texts are drafted by officers aboard

your ship and during war are usually cryptographed.

Operators should take particular care in sending and

receiving coded texts; bad garbles occur if sending or

receiving is careless and sloppy. In cipher messages

make sure the radioman copies the firsit two groups

54

and the last two groups with 100 percent accuracy.

The groups which follow are important, but particular

care should be taken with the first and last two groups

of a message. Radiomen know that usually the first

and last groups and second and next to last groups of a

ciphered message are the same, and if they copy the

indicators wrong at the beginning, some men copy

them wrong at the end to make their reception look

correct. Watch out for this; tell your radiomen to

copy exactly what they hear even if the groups are

different from what they would expect!

Here is an example of a message up through the text:

NERK V NSS NR999 - P - A - MUSK 041103 NADV

NEQJ - W - NISS QHR GR 19 BT BASAJ DQTUE

XCRRU PKUFK WZSZA JNTUY YRPEK DWXDK

PDKTK WSSIE FUDEW PXZXS EFF03 PQAQQ

RGINA TASTF SIUYA DQTUE BASAJ

(6) The Message Ending. The message ending is

the last item in the dispatch and is set off from the

text by a long break (BT). It includes the date-time

group repeated from the heading, any final instruc¬

tions between operators, and an ending prosign, “K”

or “AK”

“K” means, “Go ahead, transmit. This is the end

of my transmission to you and a response is necessary.”

“AR” means, “This is the end of my transmission to

you and no response is required or expected.”

(Note.—In Communication Instructions^ GO BP I,

and CCBP some of the two- and three-letter pro¬

signs are overscored, like this: AR. This means that

when the radioman sends them he runs the letters to¬

gether instead of leaving the normal space between

them. Radiomen in their logs never indicate over¬

scoring because it is understood. In this appendix

such prosigns will be overscored. Refer to the above

publications for information on which prosigns are

sent as one group.)

55

If an operator sends “K” as the ending sign, he

wants a receipt for the message just transmitted; he

wants to know whether you copied the entire dispatch

“solid” on your mill. Before receipting for a message,

the radioman should check his reception carefully—

count the groups, make sure the heading is correct, etc.

If an operator sends “AR”, it indicates he is through

and does not expect any answer from you. All mes¬

sages on the Fox schedule end with “AR”.

Here are a few examples of the use of different pro¬

signs and Operating Signals in the message ending.

(1) NSS wants a receipt from NAT for his message:

NAT V NSS NR4 - D - A - FROG 112244 AXEL GR

54 Wr TEXT BT 112244 K

(2) NAT receipts for above message, no response re¬

quired :

NSS V NAT R NR4 AR

(3) NSC tells NCO he has nothing to send and is

finished:

NCO V NSC QRU AR

Now let’s take a complete message and mark it off

into the different parts we have discussed:

Call Preamble

NAD V NAO NR34 - P - T -

Address

A - CAZE 032223 ABIR - W - TEAM CRAB WIND

Mess. Insts._

QHR GR 81 BT

Text Mess. Ending

FARID HPMXD...HPMXD FARID BT 032223 B K

Here is what it means: NAO calls NAD and sends

him the 34th message of that month. The precedence is

Priority to all addressees. NAD is to transmit to all

addresses. The originator is CAZE on the 3rd day

of the month at 2223 GCT. The message is addressed

to ABIR for action, and to TEAM CRAB WIND for

56

information. The addressees are to inform the origi¬

nator when message has been received (QHR). The

message contains 81 groups between BT and BT; in

the message ending the date-time group is repeated,

the receiving operator is told there is more to follow

(B), and that he is to receipt for the message (K).

Direct Communication. When the originator and

addressee are in direct radio communication it is not

necessary to use originator’s prosign (A) or to repeat

call signs of origin and action. In the example below,

NADV is the originator and NIDN the action

addressee; the call serves as the address:

NIDN V NADV - P - 141155 GR 45 BT TEXT BT 141155 K

CODRESS MESSAGES

A codress message carries the entire address (orig¬

inator, action and information addressees) crypto-

graphed in the text. Transmission instructions may

also be cryptographed in the text.

The only call signs which appear in the heading,

other than those in the call, are those of ships or activi¬

ties required to decipher the message. (Call signs are

not used in the text. Use the name of the ship or activ¬

ity, or its authorized abbreviation.)

Example: Opnav originates an OP message ad¬

dressed to USS Texas for action and to USS Omaha

for information. The message is transmitted on the

NSS Fox schedule. The calls for the Texas and Omaha

appear in the heading—they are the ships required to

break down the cryptographed text:

NERK V NSS NR245 - OP - HGB6F WZQAL 251145 GR

49 BT FUQOF GVGHJ_X ACTION TEXAS INFOR¬

MATION OMAHA FROM OPNAV X ____GVGHJ

FUQOF BT 251145 AR

57

(All of the text above, between the two BT’s would

be encrypted; the translation is shown merely for

example.)

(Note.—HGB6F is assumed to be the enciphered call

of USS Texas, and WZQAL the enciphered call of

USS Omaha.)

See jSP 02376 (2), Cominst, and standing order No. 6

for complete information on codress messages.

PROCEDURE MESSAGES

A procedure message is a message between operators,

employing prescribed prosigns or operating signals, and

essential to traffic handling or station operation. Pro¬

cedure messages seldom contain a date-time group (see

Communication Standing Order No. 16A) or a group

count.

Here is a typical procedure message in which NIDN

asks NADV to repeat the 24th to 31st groups of a

message just transmitted:

NADV V NIDN IMI 24 to 31 K

If the originator and addressee in a procedure mes¬

sage (often called a “service message”) are not in direct

communication, the originator’s call sign is used and is

followed immediately by the call sign of the action

addressee. After the call sign,of the action addressee

comes the text of the procedure message.

Example: NIDN calls NAD and sends him a Priority

message which he is to transmit to the addressee

(ZONA). QMJ 1 is an Operating Signal meaning,

“Message-indecipherable. Check indicators and

repeat.” In this case, NIDN has found ZONA’s mes¬

sage 081111 indecipherable and asks ZONA to check

the indicators. NAD is to receipt to NIDN for this

transmission.

Orig. Act.

NAD V NIDN - P - T - A - NIDN ZONA QMJ 1 ZONA 081111 K

58

There is no date-time group in such a procedure mes¬

sage unless, with enciphered calls, a date other than

that of the message being referred to is used in en¬

ciphering the call signs. If it is necessary to use a date¬

time group in a procedure message, the long break (BT)

separates the heading from the text, as follows:

NERK V NSS NR900-D-IA-9HTRE 181134 G5WS8BT

QMU 1 170034 (NSS NR 834) AR*

This message is being sent on the Fox schedule, sta¬

tion serial number 900, deferred precedence, originator

9HTRE, date-time group, action to G5WS8 (both calls

enciphered), long break, QMU 1: “Cryptographic sys¬

tem indicated in your message 170034 is not held.”

Notice the use of a station serial number to aid in

identifying the message.

The uses of INT, IMI, J, QJM, and QMO are con¬

fusing if instructions are not thoroughly understood.

It is with this in mind that the following is written.

(1) INT, preceding prosigns and Operating Signals,

indicates that the matter to follow is in the form of a

question.

Example: NBA asks NSS, “May I transmit?”

NSS V NBA INT K

NSC asks NCO, “Wfiat is my signal strength?”

NCO V NSC INT QSA K

INT, before a part of a received message, is used to

ask, “Has the indicated portion been received cor¬

rectly?”

Example: G6F asks NAM, “Is the date-time group

as indicated?”

NAM V G6F INT 231145 K

(2) IMI is the “repeat” sign. It is sent from operator

to operator when one radioman has missed part of the

message just transmitted. IMI used alone means, “Re-

59

peat all your last transmission.” IMI followed by iden¬

tification data means, “Repeat portion indicated.”

Example: NPG asks NPM to repeat his last trans¬

mission :

NPM V NPG IMI K

NPM asks NIJZ to repeat the 16th to 23rd groups.

NIJZ V NPM IMT 16 to 23 K

Remember, INT and IMI are used by the radioman

to secure “fills” or repeats on a message just transmitted,

or to ask if a certain portion is correct. The radioman

may have missed the groups, or be uncertain of them

because of static, interference, typewriter keys jam¬

ming, or because the other operator was sending too

fast.

(3) “J” is the prosign meaning “Verify and repeat

message (or portion indicated), check cryptographing.”

It asks the originator to verify and repeat the substance

of his heading or text, and can never be used by radio¬

men to secure a repeat!

Note.—IVhen only the enciphering requires check¬

ing use an Operating Signal (QJM or QMJ), do not use

“J.”

“J” is sent on the authorization of the addressee in

your ship back to the originator; it is used when the

addressee does not understand something in the head¬

ing or text, and thinks a mistake has been made.

Example: A dispatch is received by L8F from CIN-

CLANT (AGO), broken by L8F’s coding board, and

routed to the appropriate officer for action. The order

in the message appears to be incorrect in view of cer¬

tain knowledge possessed by the action officer; he thinks

it should have been addressed to another unit. He,

therefore, authorizes a “jig” back to the originator to

determine whether the dispatch is correct:

A60 V L8F J 081111 K

60

The above example assumes direct communication;

L8F is asking for verification and repetition of the

whole dispatch. If L8F just wanted the text verified,

he would have sent: A60 V L8F J 081111 AA BT K.

Prosign “C” is used in answering a “jig” and means,

“This is a correct version of message indicated (or por¬

tions thereof)

(4) QJM means, “Check encipherment of message

-(or portions indicated) and repeat”. QJM is

sent on the authorization of the coding room super¬

visor and goes back to the coding board of the origi¬

nator. Kadiomen normally do not authorize the trans¬

mission of a QJM, although if they are working certain

cipher systems, as they often do afloat, they may request

the CWO or CK-WO to authorize its use.

Example: The coding board in the USS Wichita

(NAFZ) cannot break the text of COMEASTSEA-

FKON (ABIR) dispatch 042233. The following mes¬

sage would be transmitted if the ship were not under

radio silence:

NAM V NAFZ - P - T - A -NAFZ ABIR QJM 042233 AA

BTK

(This “service” message is Priority, NAM is* to trans¬

mit to ABIK, a receipt is required).

QMJ may also be sent by the CBWO; QMJ means,

“Message_indecipherable. Check_(1. In¬

dicators; 2. Message and machine settings) and re¬

peat.” QMJ may be used when you suspect the specific

source of the trouble, while QJM is more general.

(5) QMO is the operating signal which means, “Ke-

peat message_(or portion indicated).” QMO is

used by the CWO or CKWO to secure a repeat of a

message which has already been transmitted (i. e., used

some time after the message has been received). QMO

may be used by the coding board when a “transmission

garble” is suspected. Often a QMO will clear up the

garbles caused by careless sending or receiving and it

61

will not be necessary to resort to a QJM or QMJ. QPO

is used in sending the answer to a QMO.

Many officers become excited when a message will not

break and shout right away “Send ’em a QJM!”, when

some initiative and common sense would have produced

perfect English!

If you do have to ask for a repetition of the message,

or a verification of the encipherment, do not sit around

and smoke your pipe while waiting for the answer—

keep trying to crack the garble yourself 1

In connection with the breaking of garbles in the

different cryptographic systems, your attention is in¬

vited to CSP 8Jf7 (^), and Communication InstructioTis^

chapter 4.

Although you are not required to memorize “Q” sig¬

nals it is a good idea to be familiar with the more com¬

monly used ones. Here is a list of Operating Signals

important to communication officers:

Crypto graphed trafftc, QJM, QMJ, QWI, QMU,

QPL, QMK, QQB, QQY.

Means of Transmission. QWM, QKC, QYB, QXL,

QNL.

Authentication. QHA 1-2, QMA 1-3, QIA, QJA

1-2.

Traffic. QINIO, QPO, QHB 1-2, QQL, QZM, QLM,

QQO, QQM, QLR, QMM, QIR.

Signal strength and Readability. QSA, QRK.

Combined Operating^ Signals {GCBP 2) contains a

complete list of “A” signals together with instructions

on their use. Look through CCBP 2 and study the

meanings of the above signals.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Acknowledgments are often confusing to new com¬

munication officers; here is a short review.

An acknowledgment is a communication from the

addressee of a message to the originator conveying the

62

information that the originator’s message has been

received and understood.

Instructions to acknowledge a message, if required,

normally will be included by the originator in the text

of his message.

An operating signal may be used to request an

acknowledgment when such instructions were not in¬

cluded in the text of the message, or when it is necessary

to hasten an acknowledgment previously requested.

Acknowledgments are sent by two methods: (1) An

operating signal may be used to convey the addressee’s

acknowledgment, (2) the addressee may originate a

message containing the acknowledgment.

^ ^ ^

Appendix A is not intended to furnish a complete

summary of W/T procedure; it outlines important basic

facts which all communication officers should know.

For complete information, your attention is invited to

Communication Instructions., and CO BP 2.

63

APPENDIX B

RADIO WAVE PROPAGATION AND FREQUENCY CHARACTERISTICS

As a communication officer, you should understand

elementary principles of radio wave propagation, what

causes waves of different frequencies to possess different

characteristics, and what waves can be used to cover

certain distances. The following pages contain a simple

explanation of these subjects.

Unlike radio transmitters and receivers, radio waves

cannot be seen or touched. We know them only indi¬

rectly, by their effects. We know that they travel with

the speed of light (186,000 miles per second), that they

are electromagnetic, and that waves of certain frequen¬

cies are reflected by the upper atmosphere.

For a simple explanation of frequency, consider a

child’s swing. When the swing makes a complete trip

to and fro it completes one cycle. If the time required

for this complete trip is 1 second, we say the frequency

is one cycle per second. A radio transmitter generates

a signal of many thousands of cycles per second—the

wave is making that number of oscillations per second,

and this is spoken of as “frequency.”

The frequency of radio waves is expressed in kilo¬

cycles per second (thousands of cycles per second), or

in megacycles per second (millions of cycles per second).

The abbreviations “kc.” and “me.” mean the indicated

number of oscillations per second. The length of radio

waves is expressed in meters. It is easier to express

slight variations in frequency by using kilocycles or

megacycles, rather than expressing variations in terms

of wavelength measured in meters, hence these terms

are always used by the Navy. Example: 15 kc. is 15000

cycles per second; 500 kc. is 500000 cycles per second;

56000 kc. is the same as 56 me.

Frequencies below 1500 kc. are usually expressed in

kilocycles, while frequencies above 1500 kc. may be ex¬

pressed in either kilocycles or megacycles. Frequencies

64

above 30000 kc. are usually expressed in megacycles as

this involves writing fewer digits. Thus, 78 me. is used

instead of 78000 kc.

There is a definite relation between wavelength and

frequency. As wavelength increases, frequency de¬

creases; as wavelength decreases, frequency increases.

A wave with a frequency of 15 kc. has a wavelength of

about 20000 meters; a wave with a frequency of 15000

kc. has a wavelength of about 20 meters. The examples

which follow will help you understand the relation

between wavelength and frequency.

Low frequency—Long wavelength. The diagram

below shows a freight train made up of long boxcars,

corresponding to long wavelength. With the train

moving at a constant speed, the number of times per

unit of time the intersections between cars pass a fixed

telegraph pole is the frequency. Naturally, the longer

the cars, the fewer the intersections that will pass the

pole—the longer the wavelength, the lower the fre-

qency.

mzi nuidD rzD -<-

High frequency—Short wavelength. In this ex¬

ample, the train is composed of short box cars,

corresponding to short wavelength, and the number of

intersections passing the pole per unit of time is the

frequency. With the train traveling at the same speed

as in the above example, it will be seen that many more

intersections pass the fixed pole—the shorter the wave¬

length, the higher the frequency.

□ □o cpaciDn -

65

It must be remembered that the speed of the trains

in the above examples did not change. The speed of

radio waves also remains constant (186,000 miles per

second), and is not affected by changes in frequency.

Radio waves are radiated from the transmitting

antenna at all angles to the horizontal. There are two

principal types of wave:

(1) Ground Wa^^e. These ground waves travel

along the surface of the earth, and are rapidly weak¬

ened or attenuated (absorbed) until they are no longer

of useful strength.

Ground wave

On low frequencies (10-500 kc.), the ground wave is

important and can be detected for thousands of miles

when a powerful (250-kilowatt) transmitter is used.

Radio Washington (NSS/NAA) transmits the fleet

broadcast schedule (“F” method) on low frequency

(around 17-18 kc.), using great power to force the sig¬

nal out many thousand miles.

The principal advantage of low frequency is that

it is very reliable, and not as subject to distortions by

magnetic storms and electrical disturbances as high

frequency. The disadvantage of low frequency is the

size and amount of radio equipment needed to build a

powerful station, the great steel towers required to

support the antennas, and the extreme susceptibility of

all this vast equipment to bombing. Powerful high-

frequency equipment is smaller, requires less elaborate

transmitting antennas, costs less, is quicker to construct,

and more easily moved from one location to another.

66

(2) Sky Wave. Not all energy radiated by the an¬

tenna follows the surface of the earth, in fact, the

greater portion is likely to be at angles considerably

above the horizontal. These higher angle sky waves

would travel outward into space indefinitely and be of

no use for communication if they were not bent back

to earth again. Sky waves that are bent back to earth

are of tremendous value for communications.

This bending action is explained by the existence of

a region of ionized atmosphere known as the iono¬

sphere, which surrounds the earth like a huge curved

mirror. The possibility of radio waves being returned

to earth from such an ionized region was proposed

simultaneously by A. E. Kennelly in America, and by

Oliver Heaviside in England, in the year 1902. This

was more than 20 years before radio amateurs proved

high frequency communication feasible. In honor to

these two scientists, the ionosphere was named the Ken-

nelly-Heaviside layer. The ionosphere is not a single

layer—there are several layers—^but for purposes of

explanation we will use only a single layer. Let’s ex¬

amine the ionosphere and see what it is that causes sky

waves to be refracted and reflected back to earth, mak¬

ing the miracle of high frequency (short-wave) com¬

munication as we know it today.

Kadiations from the sun strike the upper atmosphere

and cause the ionization of gas molecules (the releasing

of electrons) so that free electrons are present in this

ionized layer. This billowing cloud of electrons forms

the refracting and reflecting medium which causes sky

waves to be bent back to earth. This bending may be

caused by either reflection or refraction, both being

very similar to reflection or refraction of light waves.

It is common to speak of a “reflected” wave even though

the actual process is refraction. The higher the degree

of ionization, the greater the refracting power of the

ionosphere.

67

The lower the frequency, the more easily the wave is

bent. At the higher frequencies the bending is relatively

small, so that whether or not the wave returns to earth

depends on the angle at which it enters the ionosphere.

The higher the frequency, the higher the angle at which

the wave will enter the layer, until a critical angle is

reached at which the wave barely manages to get back

to earth. Waves which enter the Kennelly-Heaviside

layer at still higher frequencies will not be bent enough,

do not return to earth, and are useless for communica¬

tion over any distance. This is true on ultra high fre¬

quencies (UHF), and the ground wave is the only

useful portion of the energy radiated, having what

approximates an optical range (line of sight). (It

should be understood that oill waves at all frequencies

radiate some ground wave, the exact amount depending

on the frequency. Ground wave on the high frequencies

is usually good for communication up to 15 miles.)

It should be clear to you at this point why it is pos¬

sible to communicate over tremendous distances using

high frequency and relatively low transmitter power.

The sky wave shoots up into the upper atmosphere, is

reflected back to earth, bounces back up into the iono¬

sphere, and so forth. By using these frequencies, it is

possible to transmit a signal many thousand miles with

only a few hundred watts input to the final amplifier of

the radio transmitter. The selection of which high

68

frequency to use is often difficult because you have to cope with constantly changing conditions in the upper atmosphere, and a phenomenon known as “skip distance.”

You can probably guess what causes skip distance. If the ground wave from your ship’s transmitter travels 100 miles, and the first sky wave returns to earth 500 miles from your ship, there will be a band 400 miles wide around you in which your signal cannot be detected.

The region lying between the end of the useful ground wave and the point where the highest-angle waves re¬ turn to earth is known as the skip distance, because all sky waves skip over this zone and no signals can be heard. The size of this zone depends on the frequency, the state of the ionosphere, the time of day or night and the season of the year. (The height of the Kennelly- Heaviside layer may vary from 50 to 250 miles above the surface of the earth.)

Very high frequencies iyUF). Very high frequen¬ cies (30-300 megacycles) have recently become of great importance. VHF radiotelephone transmitters are used in convoy and for tactical maneuvering of combat¬ ant ships. Signals are usually sent by radiotelephone with great speed (you can talk much faster than you can send or receive radio code). During the major por¬ tion of the time, VHF is relatively free from intercep¬ tion outside of an area slightly greater than the optical path. On frequencies around 30 me. “skip” occurs fre-

quently, resulting in communication over several thou¬ sand miles. As the frequency increases, skip-distance effects become more uncommon and seldom occur on frequencies over 100 me. Refraction in the lower atmosphere is sometimes encountered, resulting in extension of the transmitting range to several limes the

optical path. Normally, the only signals received on VHF will be

in the ground wave area or over distances which place the transmitting and receiving antennas in a substan¬ tially optical path. The sky wave rarely returns to earth at frequencies above 60 me., although it has under freak conditions.

It should be kept in mind that radio waves and light waves are substantially the same, the main difference being that radio waves, even at very high frequency and superfrequencies, are much lower in frequency than light. Beginning with 40 me., radio waves start to take on the straight line propagation characteristics of light. Frequencies of 50-80 me. are much better for “optical” range work than frequencies in the lower edge of this band (28-30 me.) which bend more with the curvature of the earth even without “skip” effect, resulting in a range 25-50 percent greater than the optical path, and on certain occasions many thousands of miles. In air¬ craft, the optical range may be as much as several hun¬ dred miles. Transmitting antennas for VHF transmit¬ ters are generally placed as high as possible to increase range—the reason greater distances may be covered on VHF from aircraft than from surface vessels.

The following table is intended only as a rough index to the ranges of the different frequencies. Due to the varying condition of ionosphere, seasonal and otherwise, it is impossible to state any hard and fast rule. The range estimates are on the conservative side. (See Com¬ munication Instructions.)

70

03

s a>

Ph

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-♦J o a;

m in <v Ui

-1-3 in

•r'

3 ^

-4-3 O CO

. a

o Co

CO

rv. O ^ bC

^S, m 2 CO a

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CO

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-*3 cs3 a

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to lO to CO 2 (N Tt<

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CD *2 2 to <j3 Fh

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t? -F3 -M 2

^ 2

•F^ o a in ^

; o w S 1 -|3 2 1 ^ ' a L»fH i'g- rn ^

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to

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CO 2 O

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to 2 o o

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ssa o o

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. <N :£to

^ C3 w 03 2 2 2

trj Ci^Q;2:Q;$;Q:^;Q:$;Q

to M

gto

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CO q

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q Pi 2 > 2 CO

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2 CO to O 2 ^ <3 S C-I <3

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o 73 • fH -Jf -l3 a o o ..to

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2

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CO to 2 O

•<-< '<’< ^ &5 ^ C35 ^

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-c; •<

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CD 2

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D

2 to o o

2 to o o lO

I o o

i 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 » 1 1

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o o o o o o o o co" o

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1 o

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2 to o o

00"

o o

2 to o o o o' CO

I o o o

CO 00

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o o o o" o (N

o o o" CO

71

cra

ft

range

may

be

up

to

15

0

mil

es.

| (S

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ext.

) 200 m

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an

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for

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menta

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. T

heir ra

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lim

ited

to

a

su

bsta

nti

all

y

op

tical

path

except

as

note

d a

bove^_

There are two phenomena which you should under¬ stand :

(1) Fading. Fading is caused by, (a) interference between ground and sky wave at the receiving point, and, (h) by sky waves which enter the ionosphere at different angles being reflected at slightly different angles, and thus arriving at the receiving antenna at different times. High frequencies may be subject to a very rapid fade, while on low frequencies the fade is long and slow.

(2) Static. The first type of static is caused by natural phenomena such as discharges of electricity between clouds of different potential or from clouds to earth—lightning striking a tree. Static due to natural causes cannot be eliminated but its effects can be re¬ duced. Frequency modulation tends to eliminate this type of static.

The second type of static is man-made static. It is more common and can usually be eliminated. This kind of background noise in radio receivers, particularly high frequency receivers, is caused by any piece of elec¬ trical apparatus which generates a spark which sets up electric waves in the atmosphere (electric razors, electric motors, generators, etc.). Combination of fixed con¬ densers and inductances (coils of wire) will usually eliminate or reduce man-made static.

72

APPENDIX C

Notes on Advancement in Rating

In addition to your communication duties aboard ship, you may be division or junior division officer. One of your duties will be the advancement of your men in rating. You must develop a genuine interest in your men and earn their respect and loyalty. One good step in this direction is to get deserving, competent men advanced in rating.

The Bureau of Naval Personnel Manual^ part D, gives you information on advancement in rating. It lists the qualifications for the different rates and the petty officers in those rates. Look up the various BuPers circular letters on the subject. The captain’s yeoman can help you find the letters which apply. The follow¬ ing is a summary of the procedure to be followed:

(1) Training courses. BuPers publishes training courses for every rate in the navy. You may secure these courses from the educational officer, or by writing to the Bureau. The enlisted man is required to study the course and take the progress examinations, which you mark (an answer book is furnished). The mark is turned over to the educational officer and entered on

a card. (2) Complement. Each ship or station has a com¬

plement, i. e., the number of men in each rate allowed that ship or station. If a vacancy exists in the com¬ plement, and your man meets other qualifications, he may be examined for advancement. At the present time there are some “open rates” in which advancements are authorized without regard to vacancies in comple¬ ment, as long as the man has demonstrated his aptitude for that rating and meets other qualifications. Consult BuPers circular letters.

(3) Time in present rate. One of the qualifications listed in the BuPers Manual is the time required in one

73

rate before a man can progress to the next higher rating. For example, an RM3c might have to be nine months in the rate prior to going up for RM2c.

(4) When your man has finished his course and re¬ ceived his Certificate of Attainment from the educa¬ tional officer, and has met all other requirements, you are ready to write a memorandum to the commanding officer informing him that you have a man ready to be examined. The C. O. will then appoint a rating board of three officers who conduct the examination. The examination may be oral but usually it is written. In many rates the man is given an examination in the practical aspects of his rate, such as receiving and trans¬ mitting code at a certain speed in the case of radiomen. The examination paper is graded and the mark turned in; if the man has passed he is advanced in rating.

You will probably be a member of several rating boards, and will find that you know little, if anything, about the subject in which you are examining the man. The best procedure in this case is to get a copy of the training course and write your examination from it, or get the CPO in that branch to write the examination, or secure several sample examinations from other ships or stations.

Kemember, you want to be promoted, and your en¬ listed men want to go up in rating. It means a lot to him, more money for his family plus a feeling of achieve¬ ment. Work with him and help him along, make a loyal friend of him and he will be a better worker for you and the ship.

74

APPENDIX D

Communications Check-Off List

When your ship makes port there are a number of

important things for you to do in connection with

overhaul, upkeep, and in the maintenance of operating

efficiency. The following check-off list will be helpful

in outlining your work: cut a stencil of it and run off

several hundred copies. As various things come up at

sea which must be attended to by you in port, note

them on this form.

Communication Check-Off List

u. s. s_

Date 1. Dispatches:

ALNAVS_ BASEGRAMS_ MISSING FOX NUMBERS_ CINCLANT (or CINCPAC)_ COM INCH_ Q MESSAGES_ MISSING_

2. Publications: CSPM_ CRPM_ RPM_ RPSM_ RETURN__ SUPERSEDED_—_ EFFECTIVES_

3. Frequencies: FOX_ AREA_ AIRCRAFT_ SPECIAL_

4. Burn:

5. Personnel:

75

6. Material and Supplies: NEEDED_ REPAIR_ TURN IN_ CHECK OR CALIBRATE_ D/F_ SOUND_ VISUAL_

7. Reports: MONTHLY DESTRUCTION... QUARTERLY_ TRANSFER_

8. Departmental Recommendations:

9. Miscellaneous:

76 U. f. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE; 1944

; f

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